Summer Offerings Heat Up With Special Venues

May 26, 2002|By DAVID NICHOLSON Daily Press

Until recently, serious music lovers found slim pickings during the summer months. Come Memorial Day, many professional musicians in our area packed up their instruments and headed for summer festivals in North Carolina, upstate New York and points west. Whatever music there was to enjoy was provided by the area's fine military bands.

Some musicians continue to leave town for other summer gigs, but an increasing number of summer music events, many of them outdoors, have made staying in Hampton Roads an attractive option. New

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Wednesday, May 29, 2002.A listing of summer music events in the Sunday Ticket section incorrectly stated the time at which the Virginia Symphony will perform on June 22 at the Summer Solstice Wine Festival at Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News. Gates open at 5 p.m. The free concert will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. (Text corrected.)

outdoor performing venues, such as the Harbor Center in downtown Portsmouth, are large enough for pop music events yet small enough to provide the kind of acoustics congenial to outdoor symphonic music.

"The Harbor Center has added a new dimension," she says. "When they get the orchestra miked, it sounds good."

Cities have stepped to the plate with outdoor concerts for its residents. And cultural organizations such as Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News and businesses such as the Williamsburg Winery have capitalized on the idea of adding music to the mix.

Cathy Kurchinski, marketing coordinator for the city of Newport News museums, said the Virginia War Museum Foundation was looking for a fund-raising event.

"We always thought Lee Hall Mansion was the perfect setting for a wine festival," she says. Later, the city-sponsored Virginia Symphony concert was proposed for the mansion grounds, she says, "which is the icing on the cake."

On this holiday weekend, we've put together a schedule of varied upcoming events to ease the summer music drought.

THE CLASSICS

Summer concert schedule through August:

Virginia Symphony Summer Pops Series, various dates

This will be the second summer that officials at Harbor Center have brought in the Virginia Symphony for a concert series. The outdoor venue has about 5,500 seats under a large, white sail frame plus an additional 1,000 lawn seats. Its location along the Portsmouth waterfront frequently delivers cool breezes for concertgoers. For the players, the stage offers a more pleasing setting than performing in the mammoth Virginia Beach Amphitheater.

The summer season kicked off Friday with a concert of music accompanying the silent film "Phantom of the Opera." Here's the rest of the lineup featuring the orchestra by itself or as an accompaniment to visiting artists.

* Tribute to Led Zeppelin, 8 p.m. June 7

* Star Spangled Salute, 7:30 p.m. July 4

* An Evening with the Irish Tenors, 8 p.m. Aug. 8

* Frank Sinatra Jr., 8 p.m. Aug. 23

Performances in Harbor Center, 901 Crawford St., Portsmouth. Tickets range from $10-$65 and are available from Ticketmaster. Call 671-8100 or 872-8100 to charge by phone.

Opera in the Vineyards, June 15

The Williamsburg Winery is the setting for this annual warm-weather outing presented by Virginia Opera. This year's hosts will be David Alan and Sandra Parker of WVEC-TV, Channel 13, and Pasquale Giovani of WNIS-AM (790). Jazz, winery tours, food and operatic music make up the festivities. A broad field below the winery buildings offers a great spot for picnicking. Concertgoers can bring food baskets or buy food and wine on the premises. The event will take place rain or shine.

* Winery tours and jazz by the Jae Sinnett Trio, 4 p.m.

* Tasting of international wines, 5:30 p.m.

* Concert of Broadway and opera favorites, 7 p.m.

* Al fresco dinner following the concert.

The winery is located at 5800 Wessex Hundred in Williamsburg. Tickets to the outdoor concert are $20 in advance, $25 at the gate and $15 students. Tickets are $50 for the wine tasting and concert, and $60 for the concert and dinner. Call 623-1223 or 877-2550 for reservations.

Summer Solstice Wine Festival, June 22

On the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice Wine Festival will take place on the grounds of historic Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News. The event will feature a wine tasting and an opportunity to talk with costumed interpreters about the Civil War-era house.

The day will conclude with a free Virginia Symphony concert sponsored by the city of Newport News. Conductor Wes Kenney has programmed a lineup of all-time pops and classical favorites by Johann Strauss, John Williams, Mozart, Beethoven and others.

* Tours and wine tasting, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

* Virginia Symphony concert, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The mansion is located at 163 Yorktown Road, Newport News. Festival admission is $10. Admission including wine tasting is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. The symphony concert is free.